The Senate of the Free City of Danzig was the government of the Free City of Danzig from 1920 to 1939, after the Allied administration of Reginald Tower and the Danzig Staatsrat.

Constitutional Regulations

The separation of Danzig from the German Reich as a "Free City" without a vote led to the need to draft a constitution. In the Constitution of the Free City of Danzig, articles 25 to 42 detailed and regulated the role of the Senate. The Senate consisted of 7 full-time senators (including the President of the Senate, who was the chairman, and the Deputy President, the Vice Chairman) and 13 honorary senators. The full-time senators were elected from the Volkstag, and served 4-year terms. The honorary senators could serve indefinite terms. Only by a vote of no confidence from the Volkstag could honorary senators be recalled. Even with a dissolution of the Volkstag, the Senate could remain in power.

The Senate was the highest state authority. In particular, it had the tasks:

to announce the laws within a month of their constitutional formation and to issue the ordinances necessary for their execution; to run the state administration independently within the framework of the constitution, the laws and the state budget, and to exercise = supervision over all state authorities; to draw up the budget draft; to manage the property and revenues of the state, to remit revenues and expenditures and to defend the rights of the state; to appoint officials, unless stated otherwise by constitution or law; to operate within the framework of the constitution and the laws for the safety and public welfare of the State and of all nationals, and to adopt its necessary regulations.

In articles 43 to 49, which detailed legislative procedures, laws had to be approved by both the Volkstag and the Senate. In the event that the Senate failed to approve bills on the day it was proposed, a referendum would be held. Constitutional amendments required a two-thirds majority.Text of the Constitution

With the constitutional amendment of July 4, 1930, the number of senators was reduced to 12 (with the members of the Volkstag decreased from 120 to 72).GBl. S. 179

Individual Senates First Sahm Senate

After the establishment of the Free City of Danzig on November 15, 1920, the Constituent Assembly elected the members of the first senate on December 6. It was a bourgeois coalition between the DNVP, the DPP and the liberal Free Economic Association. The Social Democrats were the main opposition. The head of the government was Heinrich Sahm, the former mayor, who did not belong to any party. There were 4 DNVP, 4 DDP and 5 liberals in the Senate. At the second Volkstag election on November 18, 1923, the coalition continued. The First Sahm Senate continued until December 10, until it was replaced by the Second Sahm Senate. The honorary members of the First Sahm Senate, including the Deputy President, resigned on January 15, 1924.

StatusOfficeNameParty Full-time President of the Senate Heinrich Sahm Partyless Full-time Interior Minister Wilhelm Schümmer Zentrum Full-time Municipal Affairs Dr. Hubertus Schwartz Full-time Culture Dr. Hermann Strunk DDP, from 1921 DPFW Full-time Finance Ernst Volkmann (from February 8, 1921) Partyless Full-time Public Works Dr. Otto Leske Full-time State-owned Enterprise Prof. Ludwig Noé (until April 26, 1921) DDP, from 1921 DPFW Wolf Runge (from April 27, 1921) Full-time Justice and Social Affairs Dr. Albert Frank DNVP Honorary Deputy to the President Dr. Ernst Ziehm (elected on January 16, 1924) DNVP Honorary Agriculture and Forestry Franz Ziehm (elected on January 16, 1924) DNVP Honorary Business Gustav Karow (elected on January 16, 1924) DNVP Honorary Otto Pertuss (from January 23, 1924) DNVP Honorary Georg Bennecke (until April 30, 1921) DNVP Honorary Richard Senftleben (elected on January 16, 1924) DNVP Honorary Otto Schulze (from January 16, 1924) DNVP Honorary Kette (re-elected on January 16, 1924) DNVP Honorary Schiffsreeder Bosselmann (from January 16, 1924) DNVP Honorary Ingenieur Jansson (from May 27, 1921 to January 15, 1924) DNVP Honorary Anton Sawatzki (elected on January 16, 1924) Zentrum Honorary Karl Fuchs (elected on January 16, 1924) Zentrum Honorary Union Secretary Krause (elected on January 16, 1924) Zentrum Honorary City Council Dr. Wiercinski (from January 16, 1924) Zentrum Honorary Economy Julius Jewelowski (until January 18, 1924) DDP, from 1921 DPFW Honorary Nutrition Dr. Paul Eschert (until January 15, 1924) FWV, from 1921 DPFW Honorary Factory Director Dr. Unger (from January 16 to October 15, 1924) DPFW Honorary Factory Director Briechle (from January 16 to October 15, 1924) DPFW Honorary Savings Gustav Fuchs (until January 15, 1924) Liberal Honorary Post OfficeFörster war im Hauptberuf Direktor des Zopotter Postamts Emil Förster (until January 15, 1924) FWV, from 1921 DPFW Sprenger beschreibt, es wären 6 ehrenamtliche Senatoren der DNVP gewählt worden. Ziehm nennt jedoch 7, wobei er jedoch sich selbst als Stellvertreter des Präsidenten mitzählt. Laut den Sitzungsprotokollen des Volkstags wurden 1920 folgende nebenamtliche Senatoren gewählt: Bennecke, Karow, Kette, Pertus, Senftleben, Ziehm, Carl Fuchs, Krause, Sawatzki, Dr. Eschert, Gust. Fuchs, Foerster, Jewelowski.

Second Sahm Senate

The rejection of the state budget of 1925 by Deputy President Ernst Ziehm led to a crisis in the government. A new senate was formed on August 19, 1925. This senate was a minority senate, made from a coalition of the SPD, Zentrum, and the German Liberal Party (formed from a 1925 merge of the Free Association of Civil servants, Employees and Workers and the German Party for Progress and Economy (the name of the Free Economic Association since 1920)).Heinrich Sprenger : Heinrich Sahm : Kommunalpolitiker und Staatsmann,1969, Diss., S. 118–119, 135–136, 155–156 This government was tolerated by the Poles and socialist politician Wilhelm Rahn.

Status Office Name Party Annotations Full-time President of the Senate Heinrich Sahm Partyless Full-time Interior Willibald Wiercinski-Keiser Zentrum Full-time Social Welfare Hubertus Schwartz Full-time Culture Hermann Strunk DDP Full-time Finance Ernst Volkmann Partyless Full-time Public Works Dr. Otto Leske Full-time State-owned Enterprise Wolf Runge Full-time Justice Albert Frank DNVP Honorary Deputy to the President Ernst Ziehm DNVP until 1925 Honorary Deputy to the President Wilhelm Riepe DNVP from 1926 Honorary Anton Sawatzki Zentrum Honorary Hugo Neumann Liberal Honorary Max Behrendt SPD 1925–1926 Honorary Vice President Julius Gehl SPD 1925–1926 Honorary Friedrich Grünhagen SPD 1925–1926 Honorary Bernhard Kamnitzer SPD 1925–1926 Honorary Ernst Loops SPD 1925–1926 Honorary Walter Reek SPD 1925–1926

Third Sahm Senate In the third Volkstag election on November 13, 1927, there was a further political shift towards the SPD. The parties of the previous minority government now had a majority. Without prejudice for some changes in senators, the SPD, Zentrum, and the Liberals continued to dominate the senate.

The coalition collapsed in 1930, divided over the question of housing management and financing laws. On March 29, the Liberals left the coalition, with the SPD following suit on April 2. In May 1930, Heinrich Sahm's attempt to form a bourgeois senate failed. Sahm suffered another setback in a vote to amend the constitution, in which the DNVP succeeded in reducing the number of seats in the Volkstag from 120 to 72. This Senate remained in office until January 9, 1931.

Status Office Name Party Full-time Präsident of the Senate Heinrich Sahm Partyless Full-time Interior Friedrich Grünhagen SPD Full-time Social Welfare Willibald Wiercinski-Keiser Zentrum Full-time Culture Hermann Strunk DDP Full-time Finance Bernhard Kamnitzer SPD Full-time Public Works Franz Arczynski SPD Full-time Construction Hugo Althoff Zentrum Full-time Justice and Post Office Albert Evert DDP Honorary Anton Sawatzki Zentrum Honorary Gustav Fuchs Zentrum Honorary Bruno Kurowski Zentrum Honorary Julius Jewelowski DDP Honorary Hans Zint SPD Honorary Julius Gehl SPD Honorary Willy Moritz SPD

Ziehm Senate

In the fourth Volkstag election on November 16, 1930, neither the left or the bourgeois parties had received majorities. The NSDAP, which had received 12 seats, tipped the scales. On January 10, 1931, a new senate was formed under Ernst Ziehm, with its members being parts of the DNVP, Zentrum, and the Liberals. The Nazis tolerated this senate, even though they were prone to extreme political conflict with them.. However, in the autumn of 1931, the NSDAP discussed the possible fall and forceful removal of the Ziehm Senate, decided against by Adolf Hitler. Towards the end of 1932, Hitler changed his mind and started planning to remove the Ziehm Senate. With his appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, it was time for the NSDAP to come into power in Danzig. They deprived the Senate of confidence in Ziehm and offered to enter into a joint senate with the bourgeois parties if Hermann Rauschning became Senate President and the NSDAP appointed the Interior Senator. The bourgeois parties rejected this proposition and the Senate resigned, remaining in office until June 20, 1933.Dieter Schenk: Danzig 1930–1945. Das Ende einer Freien Stadt. Ch. Links, Berlin 2013, , S. 28 (eingeschränkte Vorschau in der Google-Buchsuche).

This Senate was known for increasing authoritarianism in Danzig, even banning the social democratic newspaper Volkstimme for a short time in 1932.Peter Oliver Loew, "Danzig: Biographie einer Stadt", 197. By 1932, the Nazis had tapped into the electoral power of the rural population of Danzig, and had become the second most popular party.

Status Office Name Party Full-time President of the Senate Agriculture Ernst ZiehmErnst Ziehm: Aus meiner politischen Arbeit in Danzig 1914–1939 (Autobiografie), S. 147–156Die Freie Stadt Danzig Die Senate 1920–1939, https://www.gonschior.de/weimar/Danzig/Ueberblick_Reg.html DNVP Full-time Deputy President Social Welfare Willibald Wiercinski-Keiser Zentrum Honorary Interior Georg Hinz DNVP Full-time Culture Alfred Winderlich DNVP Full-time Culture NatBl (National Bloc) Full-time Public Works and Trade Hugo Althoff Zentrum Full-time Businesses, Transport and Work Kurt Blavier NatBl Honorary Justice Fritz Dumont NatBl Honorary Heinrich Schwegmann DNVP Honorary Kaufmann Senftleben DNVP Honorary Anton Sawatzki Zentrum Honorary Bruno Kurowski Zentrum

Rauschning Senate

In the fifth Volkstag election on May 28, 1933, the NSDAP gained an absolute majority. On June 20, 1933, a senate under prominent Danzig Nazi Hermann Rauschning was elected, with only Nazis aside from two Zentrum senators. The Volkstag voted to adopt the Enabling Act, allowing the Senate to use emergency decrees without the approval of the Volkstag. Office Name Party President of the Senate Hermann Rauschning NSDAP Deputy President Interior Arthur Greiser NSDAP Social Welfare Hans Albert Hohnfeldt NSDAP Culture Adalbert Boeck NSDAP Finance Julius Hoppenrath NSDAP Business Wilhelm Huth NSDAP Construction Karl August Hoepfner NSDAP Justice Willibald Wiercinski-Keiser Zentrumab 22. September 1933 NSDAP Public Health Helmut Adalbert Kluck NSDAP Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Paul Batzer NSDAPab 22. September 1933 für Sawatzki Senators for Special Use Wilhelm von Wnuck Max Bertling Anton Sawatzkibis 22. September 1933 NSDAP NSDAP Zentrum

Greiser Senate Arthur Greiser was made Senate President (Senatspräsident) in 1935–1939. As Senate President of Danzig, he was a rival to Albert Forster, his nominal superior in the Nazi Party (Gauleiter of the city) since 1930. Greiser was part of the SS empire whilst Forster was closely aligned with the Nazi Party Mandarins Rudolf Hess and later Martin Bormann.

Forster Senate On 23 August 1939 Albert Forster replaced Greiser as Danzig's head of state.

References